Plumber&#39;s ladle



July 19,1949,

J. RIGANO PLUMBERS LADLE Filed Feb. 24, 1947 IIIIIIIIII'III i lllllllllllllllllllllllllllll INVENTOR Josef/1 Rfqano ORNEY Patented July19, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT I OFFICE j I 2,476,626 t PLUMBERS LADLEJoseph Rigano, Larcl i'mont, N. Application February 24, 1947, SerialNo. 730,382 2 Claims. (01.2.2461

This invention relates to a plumbers ladle for caulking pipe joints withhot lead.

Frequently such pipe joints, particularly in the case of soil pipejoints are located so close to ceilings as to preclude the use of ladlesnow available and it is common practice in such cases to cut through theceilings .and floors and pour the lead from above the ceilings, which iswasteful of time and damaging to the ceilings and floors.

To overcome these difficulties I have provided a plumbers ladle whichmay be used conveniently in such difficult locations, which is easy andnatural to use, since the lead contents may be discharged by the simpletilting of the ladle to which plumbers are accustomed, andhencerequiresno unusual operation in its use.

I accomplish these. objects by a plumbers ladle comprising a large,relatively wide, shallow ladle with low vertical walls which converge atthe spout end of the ladle, the cavity of the ladle having a relativelydeep portion, the bottom of which lies in a horizontal plane, andaninclined portion, the bottom of which, lies in a plane slightly inclinedupwardly with respect to the bottom of the deep portion, .and having aspout which consists of a narrow vertical slit at the convergence of thewalls, extending to the inclined bottom, the ladle having a convenienthandle and lift.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a ladle ofdurable construction which can be inexpensively manufactured.

Referring to the drawings, which show one embodiment of my invention inwhich Fig. 1 is a plan view of the ladle;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing the effect of varyinglengths of the deep and inclined portions of the ladle.

As shown in the drawings, I designates the. ladle proper; 2 therelatively deep portion; 3 the The side handle 12 is welded or otherwisesecured to side wall 7 in the vicinity of the junction of the deep andinclined portions 2 and 3, and I4 is the rear end lift likewise securedto the rear wall 6 in the vertical plane of axis II]. V Walls 6, I and 8are low and respectively form right angles with their adjacent bottomportions portion 4 is held in a horizontal plane.

Handle I2 issecured as aforesaid to sidewall I in the vicinity of theline of division or crossaxis 9 so that tilting the ladle to dischargethe lead will substantially be about the cross-axis 9.

The preferable construction is to have horizontal section 2 and inclinedsection 3 of equal length, measured along the longitudinal axis ll]..and as shortas possible, providing the capacity by increasing the widthof the deep portion 2 .the walls 6, T and 8 always being low.

Fig. 3 diagrammatically illustrates the saving in clearance requiredabove the pipe joint by observing these principles. Fundamentally whatvis desired is a ladle of convenient size, which can .be accommodatedbetween the joint and the ceiling and will not require more room thanits own overall height to be tilted to completely discharge itscontents.

In Fig. 3, l8 indicates a pipe joint to be caulked in pipe line l9, and20 the ceiling above the pipe line. illustrating diagrammatically ladiesof the type heretofore described with the inclined portions ,3 andhorizontal portions 2 respectively of ,equal and unequal length, 9showing the line of demarcation between the two sections. 2| indicatessuch a ladle with the horizontal portion terminating at that point andof equal length to the inclined portion 2, while 22 indicates a longerhorizontal portion 2. Considering a ladle with horizontal and inclinedportions of equal length, it will be seen that with its horizontalportion 2 parallel to pipe IS, the ladle easily fits in the spacebetween pipe l9 and ceiling 20, as shown by the full lines, and whentilted so that the inclined portion 3 becomes parallel to pipe line l9,as shown by the broken lines, in which position the contents of theladle will be completely discharged, the ceiling 20 easily clears therear end 2| of the horizontal or deep portion 2 so that such a ladlerequires no greater height of space above the joint l9 than its ownoverall height, to be tilted and to discharge its lead. On the otherhand, if the length of the horizontal portion is increased, say to 22,then when the inclined portion 3 is tilted so as to be parallel to pipeline IS, the rise of rear end 22 is much greater and extends abovetheceiling. I have found however that it ispractic'able to advance the lineof division 9 towards the spout end H to the extent that the length ofthe horizontal section 2 is about 60% of the overall length of the ladlecavity along the axis l0.

Preferably the ladle I is cast ofiron in one piece and the innersurfaces of bottom portionsl and 5, and walls 6, I and Bwmaybe' groundtoaa smooth finish. It may also be made of a single piece of sheet metalotabout he inch thickness flanged to provide the-walls 6, I and 8suitable notches being cutat the respective junctions of said walls toprovide a proper fit and then welding the joints. Side handle 12 may bemadeof a strip of sheet metal-flanged at l2a andlikewise lift 14.

The dimensions of the ladle will vary according to the'capacity desiredfor the size of joints to be caulked. r

I have found that a ladle having the following approximate dimensionswill provide'- a capacity 5 of 3 /z pounds of -lead,- suitable forcaulking a 3 to 4 'inch'joint, and is convenient'and practical, it beingunderstood that variations in these-di- *m'en-sions are possible withoutlosing the advantages of-my inventionz Combined inside-length or thedeep portion 2 and inclined portion 3,12 inches; inside width alongcross-axisflfll inches; 'inside length of bottom portion 4, 7inchesy-inside length of inclined'bo'ttom portion ,5, 5 inches;

inside-height of walls 6, I and 8, '%inch;-width -of slit 16, he inch;length of side handle 12;6 inches and of rearlift 14, 1- inches.

-'The-use of the ladie isobvious from the fore- =going*description. Theladle is filled, so that '-when held with bottom portion tin-ahorizontal plane, the level of the lead will be below the extremity llof spout l6. Handle His grasped in .one :hand and the other hand" liftsrear lift [4, *thustilting the ladle substantially aboutthe crossaxis 9.When theinclined bottomportioni reaches-the horizontalplane the contentswill be discharged through the spout 16} It -is "well :known thatsufficientlead should be carried by :zthe ladle .to enable the joint tobe completely caulked in one operation, since repeated-partial"cauikings with fresh vcl'iarges of lead leave imzperfect joints. 7 i

L'In referring to: -rneasuring the lengths of the relatively-deepandiinclined portions'oi the :lad-le along the axisl-fl my intent is'ttoindicate the direction of .measurement,1which will follow. :the

horizontal and inclined bottom portions and not to foreshorten suchmeasurement of the inclined portion by any projection of such axis lupon it.

It is obvious that changes may be made in the embodiment of my inventionhereinabove described without departing from the spirit of the inventionas defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for use in caulking pipe joints with liquid metal comprisinga ladle having a bottom one portion of which lies in a horizontal planeand the remaining adjacent portion in a plane inclined upwardly fromsaid horizontal portion, isaidiinolined :portion tapering toablunt-pointed '2endaway from said horizontal. portion, a vertical wallenclosing said bottom having at the pointed end of said inclined bottomportion a narrow, vertical opening extending for the full height of thewall constituting the spout, the bottom of said ropening not beinghigher than the top of said wall at the opposite end of the ladle, ahandle secured to the ladle at said opposite end, and a second handlesecured to a side of the ladle substantially at the line of: junction ofsaid horizontal and inclined bottom portions, the length of'saidhorizontal' bottom portion not substantially exceeding 60 per centof the combined lengths of both said horizontal and inclined-bottomportions.

2. A device for main caulking pipe joints with liquid metal comprising aladle having abottom one portion of which lies in a horizontal plane and:the remaining adjacent portion-in a plane :in'clined upwardly from said"horizontal portion, said inclined portion tapering to ablunt pointedend away from said horizontal portion, a wall en closingsaid-bottom andperpendicular to the respective adjacent portions of said'bottom havingat the pointed end of said inclined bottom portion a narrow, verticalopening extending for the full height of the Wallconstituting the spout,the bottom of said opening not being higher than the top of said wall atthe opposite end, ahandle secured to the ladle at said opposite end anda -second'handle secured to a side of the 'ladlesubstantially at theline of junction of said horizontaland inclined'bottorn' portions, thelength of said'horizontal bottom portion not substantially'exceeding'tfl per-cent of the combined lengths .oo 'of'both saidhorizontal and inclined bottom portions, and the width of saidhorizontaljbottor'n portion being substantially equal to its insidelength.

JOSEPH RIGANO.

Y REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES' PATENTS Number Name Date 337,550."Beneke Mar. 9, 1886 "1,144,490 Meyer June 29, 1915 1,726,911 MesslerSept. '3, I929 5 2,121,165

"Slobodkin June',21, 193 8

